Political poll response rates down to 6%

The percentage of Americans willing to participate in telephone polls has hit a new low, according to a new report, raising doubts about the continued viability of the phone surveys that have traditionally dominated politics and elections, both in the media and in campaigns.

The Pew Research Center reported Wednesday that the response rate for its phone polls last year fell to just 6 percent — meaning pollsters could only complete interviews with 6 percent of the households in their samples. It continues the long-term decline in response rates, which had leveled off earlier this decade.

In releasing the data, Pew is also announcing that it will move “the lion’s share” of its tracking of political and social trends — considered by many to be the gold-standard in public-opinion research — to its online platform, part of a broader trend away from phone polling and toward the internet.